Millions of individuals engage in the hygiene practice of taking a shower on a daily basis. Showers deliver an effective method of providing a means of cleansing oneself and offer an alternative to bathing in a tub. Individuals typically engage in routine tasks during showering such as but not limited to wetting hair or body, applying surfactant, shaving and rinsing. Unfortunately, the combination of any one of these tasks routinely requires the use of more water than if a person were to utilize a bathtub that was filled once with the desired amount of water.
One problem with existing shower heads is that they do not allow a user to control the flow of the water intermediate of performing any of the tasks mentioned herein thereby resulting in the waste of water. Typically, a user will remove themselves from the direct path of the water spray pattern or alter the angle of the shower head so that they are removed from the direct path of the water exiting the shower head so that they can perform a task such as apply a surfactant or shave. The water flow during these intermediate stages is not required to be a full-unrestricted flow. The result is that during a typical shower a user will not efficiently utilize the water volume provided and waste approximately thirty percent of the water volume during a shower.
Another issue with existing technologies is that the showerheads can not automatically control the flow of water based on the presence of an individual in the water path. Some existing shower heads have provided a flow control valve that either reduces or blocks the water flow but the valve must be engaged by hand by the user each time the user desires to reduce the flow and/or increase the flow. This can be very inconvenient to the user as individuals routinely have other objects disposed in their hands.
Accordingly there is a need for a showerhead that can automatically detect the presence of an individual in the path of the water stream exiting the showerhead and reduce and/or increase the water flow depending upon the detection of the presence or absence of an individual within the water stream.